Shane Bauer

Iranian authorities are prepared to release on $500,000 bail one of three American hikers held since last year, Tehran's chief prosecutor said Sunday. However, the trio was formally charged at a morning session with espionage and trespassing into Iran, and the detention of the other two Americans was extended for two months, the hikers' defense attorney told The Times. "All my clients pleaded not guilty and did not accept the charges," attorney Massoud Shafii said in a telephone interview, adding that the three were in "good spirits.

The saga of the three American hikers snatched by Iranian border guards along the Iran-Iraq border in 2009 and accused of spying and illegal entry held the world's attention for more than two years. Now, one year after he was released from an Iranian prison, Joshua Fattal, a teacher and environmentalist, will be a guest here at Yom Kippur services at the arts synagogue, the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts-Saban Theatre, on Sept. 26. In my column last week, I spoke to Sarah Shourd, one of the three hikers, who is now married to fellow hiker Shane Bauer; Fattal was best man at their wedding in May. She was released after 140 days in solitary confinement; Fattal and Bauer had to wait another year for freedom.

An American woman, one of three U.S. hikers jailed in Iran last year after possibly straying into Iranian territory, will be released Saturday, an Iranian official said Thursday. Friends and relatives say Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd were on a hiking trip in the scenic mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Iranian border July 31, 2009, when they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian territory. They were detained by Iranian forces and have been locked up in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison.

Two years ago, Californian and citizen of the world Sarah Shourd was released from prison in Iran after an intense international campaign to free her. A bit more than a year later, that effort, including pressure from the State Department, Oman (the "Switzerland of the Middle East") and even Iraq and Venezuela, also won the release of Shourd's then-fiance, Shane Bauer, and their friend, Josh Fattal. The three Americans had been hiking in 2009 in Iraqi Kurdistan when they were snatched at the Iranian border and accused of spying.

An American woman who spent 410 days imprisoned in Iran praised its leaders Sunday for the "humanitarian gesture" of freeing her but expressed frustration at the continued detention of two companions, while Iran's president suggested the hikers could be bargaining chips in his tempestuous relationship with Washington. Sarah Shourd, 32, mixed political niceties with firm denials of guilt in her first extensive public comments since leaving Iran's Evin Prison on Sept. 14. She appeared alongside her mother, Nora, who held her daughter's hand as they walked into a conference room in a Manhattan hotel after flying to the United States.

The release of two American hikers convicted of spying in Iran ended an international drama involving longtime foes, but was also emblematic of the infighting among Tehran's ruling elite that has led to questions about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's grip on power. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, both 29-year-old graduates of UC Berkeley, were released Wednesday from Tehran's Evin Prison on a combined bail of $1 million. The Americans were handed over to the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, and were flown to the Persian Gulf nation of Oman, a Washington ally that posted the bail and helped negotiate their release.

Iranian authorities will announce a verdict and sentence within days in the case of two U.S. hikers arrested two years ago near an unmarked section of the Iran-Iraq border, their lawyer and court officials said Sunday after what appeared to be the final court hearing in the case. On the anniversary of their July 31, 2009, arrest, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal spent four hours at a hearing at the Tehran Revolutionary Court, where they face charges of espionage and trespassing. "The last session was held," Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as saying by the state-owned Al Alam television channel.

Iranian authorities imposed a harsh, eight-year sentence on two Americans arrested along the border with Iraq in 2009, state television cited an unnamed judicial source as saying Saturday, in a stunning verdict that could further strain relations between Washington and Tehran. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, who have already been held in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison for two years, have 20 days to appeal their convictions on charges of illegal entry into Iranian territory and espionage.

The saga of the three American hikers snatched by Iranian border guards along the Iran-Iraq border in 2009 and accused of spying and illegal entry held the world's attention for more than two years. Now, one year after he was released from an Iranian prison, Joshua Fattal, a teacher and environmentalist, will be a guest here at Yom Kippur services at the arts synagogue, the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts-Saban Theatre, on Sept. 26. In my column last week, I spoke to Sarah Shourd, one of the three hikers, who is now married to fellow hiker Shane Bauer; Fattal was best man at their wedding in May. She was released after 140 days in solitary confinement; Fattal and Bauer had to wait another year for freedom.

Iranian authorities sentenced two Americans arrested and detained along the Iran-Iraq border to eight years in prison, state television cited an unnamed judicial source as saying on Saturday. The men, who have already been held in prison for more than two years in Iran, have 20 days to appeal their convictions on charges of illegal entry onto Iranian territory and espionage. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, both 28 years old, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border during what they insist was an ill-fated hiking trip in the scenic mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The release of two American hikers convicted of spying in Iran ended an international drama involving longtime foes, but was also emblematic of the infighting among Tehran's ruling elite that has led to questions about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's grip on power. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, both 29-year-old graduates of UC Berkeley, were released Wednesday from Tehran's Evin Prison on a combined bail of $1 million. The Americans were handed over to the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, and were flown to the Persian Gulf nation of Oman, a Washington ally that posted the bail and helped negotiate their release.

Two American hikers held by Iran since 2009 will be released on bail in the coming days, Iran's president and the men's lawyer said Tuesday. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal will be freed once bail of $500,000 each is paid, attorney Masoud Shafii said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC television's "Today" show that the men would be freed "in a couple of days. " Bauer and Fattal, both 29-year-old graduates of UC Berkeley, were sentenced last month to eight years in prison for espionage and illegal entry.

Iranian authorities imposed a harsh, eight-year sentence on two Americans arrested along the border with Iraq in 2009, state television cited an unnamed judicial source as saying Saturday, in a stunning verdict that could further strain relations between Washington and Tehran. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, who have already been held in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison for two years, have 20 days to appeal their convictions on charges of illegal entry into Iranian territory and espionage.

Iranian authorities sentenced two Americans arrested and detained along the Iran-Iraq border to eight years in prison, state television cited an unnamed judicial source as saying on Saturday. The men, who have already been held in prison for more than two years in Iran, have 20 days to appeal their convictions on charges of illegal entry onto Iranian territory and espionage. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, both 28 years old, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border during what they insist was an ill-fated hiking trip in the scenic mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iranian authorities will announce a verdict and sentence within days in the case of two U.S. hikers arrested two years ago near an unmarked section of the Iran-Iraq border, their lawyer and court officials said Sunday after what appeared to be the final court hearing in the case. On the anniversary of their July 31, 2009, arrest, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal spent four hours at a hearing at the Tehran Revolutionary Court, where they face charges of espionage and trespassing. "The last session was held," Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as saying by the state-owned Al Alam television channel.

The story of Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd, the American hikers who in July 2009 crossed the border — inadvertently, all evidence suggests — from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran and were imprisoned for espionage, is back in the headlines. Shourd, who was released in September on humanitarian grounds and after paying $500,000 in bail, has been promoting a "rolling hunger strike" to remind us that Bauer and Fattal remain in Tehran's Evin Prison without a trial date or access to their lawyer.

A high-ranking Iranian security official confirmed reports of the arrest of a woman described as an American spy, state media reported, but her nationality remained in question Saturday. Brig. Gen. Amir-Ahmad Geravand of the national border police first told reporters that a 34-year-old American woman named Hal Talaian had been arrested near the town of Jolfa along the Iran-Azerbaijan border, state-controlled Al Alam television and the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported. But in a later radio interview, Geravand hedged his remarks on her nationality.

Two Iranians arrested by U.S. forces in Iraq were released Friday, a day after Iran allowed three young Americans detained in the Islamic Republic since July to meet with their mothers. Iraqi officials handed the detainees to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, Iran's state-owned English-language Press TV reported on its website. Embassy spokesman Amir Arshadi said the men had left the country and arrived in Iran. The moves are the latest hints of behind-the-scenes deal-making between Iran and the West over the fate of detainees.

A high-ranking Iranian security official confirmed reports of the arrest of a woman described as an American spy, state media reported, but her nationality remained in question Saturday. Brig. Gen. Amir-Ahmad Geravand of the national border police first told reporters that a 34-year-old American woman named Hal Talaian had been arrested near the town of Jolfa along the Iran-Azerbaijan border, state-controlled Al Alam television and the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported. But in a later radio interview, Geravand hedged his remarks on her nationality.

The judge, prosecutor and lawyer showed up Saturday, but the defendants didn't. Masoud Shafii, the lawyer representing two young Americans held in Iran and accused of espionage, said everything was in place for a long-scheduled court hearing except the two Americans themselves. Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer are being held in Tehran's Evin Prison. They were arrested in July 2009 for allegedly straying into Iranian territory during a hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan. After a third American, Sarah Shourd, was freed on bail in September, Iranian authorities said the other two would stand trial Saturday.